Bay Area Sea Lions
Founded: 2011 Owner: Miachel Villanueva Placement: Division I Alpha Cup Victories: 1 Team OVR: 89 Strength: Elite Secondary Weakness: Inconsistent Passing Game Head Coach: Montez Brown Captain: DB Aundre O'Neal (3rd Year) Bay Area Sea Lions The Bay Area Sea Lions are one of the A11FL's first established franchises, classifying under the "Original 6" (Brooklyn, Vancouver, Bay Area, Milwaukee, Chicago and Washington) category. Founded in 2011, the Bay Area Sea Lions were the result of a 91% approval rating from the city of San Jose as well as an 80% approval rating from the nearby city of Sacramento, California, meaning the team initially represented both areas of California. Not long after the team was made public, entrepreneur Miachel Villanueva stepped forward as the team's acting owner and President. Backed by a local law firm, he made the move of purchasing the team two weeks later for over $25 million dollars. With the legal aspects covered, Miachel began recruiting talent to play for the Sea Lions, as well as putting together a staff good enough to help the team win games from their first season abroad, as there was yet no word on where the team would be placed in their Inaugural Season. With over a year to prepare, Villanueva was determined to see his team succeed. In March of that year, he reached an agreement with former Cal assistant coach Montez Brown to become the franchise's first head oach, essentially handing him the keys to the team from the very beginning. There was much to do. Research to do, game film to cover and partnerships to create. The two became the ideal team, as Montez studied up on upcoming talent and recruited talent from wherever he could, while Villanueva secured the team several advertising deals for the 2012 season. By December of that year the league had around 15 active teams when Tading called for a meeting of all the active owners up to that point. It was announced that the league would begin holding open tryouts in February, and would conduct a League Draft in May of 2012. Two months pass. Bay Area began their open tryouts and managed to sign around 20 players before the March 1st deadline. In the lead up to the draft, several former college athletes stepped up their performance after registering for the A11FL Draft, catching the eye of Brown and Villanueva alike. Bay Area was awarded the final pick of the first round. This was an obvious setback, as the team watched every player but one they had seriously considered get taken before them. With the final pick in the first round of the Supplemental Draft, the Sea Lions drafted former Cal G Everett Wynn, and picked up former 49ers K Trevor Johnston in the Supplemental Round. Three days later, the league standings for the 2012 season were announced and to Brown and Villanueva's surprise, the Sea Lions were placed in Division I, making them eligible to win the League Championship. The Board of Directors decided that teams would either be placed higher in the league or pick higher in the draft. Bay Area picked last, so they would contend for an Alpha Cup. Miachel was thrilled with the news, as it seemed to light a fire under HC Montez Brown to go for a Championship. The first League Championship. Bay Area opened their season versus the New Jersey Generals in the A11FL Inaugural Game right in their own backyard of San Jose, California inside The Waterside. They were defeated 21-17, but that loss would come to be just one of three the team would have that year. They easily qualified for the Playoff Round at 12-3, the best record in the Division. They bested the New Jersey Generals in a classic rematch 23-20 to advance to the Alpha Cup Final. Their opponent: the 10-5 Arizona Rattlers, a team they had shutout earlier in the season 13-0. The Rattlers got their revenge by beating the Sea Lions 28-17 in the Alpha Cup Final, ending their inaugural season in crushing disappointment. But their fortune would soon change. All season long, Montez had been tracking the "downfall" of a player he had coached for two years at Cal, only for him to transfer to Nebraska after team doctors misdiagnosed a concussion he suffered during a team practice. He was immensely talented, but had again gotten himself into some hot water when it was revealed not long before the start of his senior campaign he had been involved in "The GoJersey Scandal" (an illegal website paying athletes for unauthorized gear including autographed jerseys, gloves and cleats). His senior season was a disaster, as he struggled throughout the year at things Montez knew he normally wouldn't. The six-game suspension for the scandal was clearly weighing on him. Once his senior season was over, he registered for the Rookie Showcase, and was painted as a "athlete of interest" due to the bad media surrounding him. He played a phenomenal game notching an INT and five tackles, but suffered an ankle sprain late in the third quarter. He missed the majority of the rest of scouting process while he recovered, but Montez knew he had his man. Eric Russo had him ranked 15th on the Top 20 Board, but most other coaches didn't see anything special in the 22 year old hybrid CB. Still, losing the Title game ended up benefiting Bay Area because it meant they could trade up for a higher pick as long as it wasn't in the Top 5, something the League Champions weren't allowed to do. At the request of Coach Brown, Villanueva began calling around the league, looking for a team to swap picks with. Finally a deal was struck between the Sea Lions and the Georgia Force, a former Division I team looking to acquire some talent to add to their roster. The Sea Lions gave up two starters plus their #19 pick for Georgia's #11 pick. And with that pick, the Bay Area Sea Lions drafted DB Aundre O'Neal out of Nebraska. Although the Sea Lions failed to make the championship game in 2013, Aundre O'Neal had shown signs of becoming a key player in the team's future, winning Division I Defensive Rookie of the Year honors. In 2014, Montez Brown did his best to capitalize on O'Neal's talents by using free agency to bring in S Hiromi Nakamura, who despite making a name for himself in 20 13 with the Portland Steel, was waived by the team. He possessed a unique amount of strength for the position, making him notorious for his crushing hits, allowing O'Neal to play exclusively at CB, then using the draft to bring in QB Charlie Villanueva out of Penn State. In 2014, the Sea Lions, guided by their defense and solid play from rookie QB Villanueva, managed to once again surivive to play in the Alpha Cup Final, battling the Rattlers for the third consecutive year. This time, the Sea Lions managed to finally defeat the Rattlers, winning their first Alpha Cup. They folowed that up with a solid 2015 campaign, but failed to meet the Rattlers in the championship. Heading into the 2016 season, Bay Area posesses without a doubt one of the league's best defenses, and the league's top secondary led by star Aundre O'Neal. Can the Sea Lions climb their way back to the top of the mountain? 'Player Spotlight: Aundre O'Neal' Age: 25 Height: 6'3 Weight: 215 lb. Position: CB A11FL Seasons: 3 Yrs Captain: 2 Awards: Division I Defensive Rookie of the Year (2013), 2x A11FL All-Star (2014 & 2015) Aundre O'Neal is an athlete that plays with the mindset that every chance is worth taking, in life and in the game of football. Perhaps that mantra was instilled in him by circumstance. Aundre began his athletic career at the age of 9, where he began playing Pop Warner Football in his hometown of Oakland, California. By the time he began high school, he had taken up track and field as a second sport, adding game-breaking speed to his deadly arsenal of athletic gifts. He was a 4-star recruit out of Monmouth High School, ultimately declaring to stay close to home by commiting to Cal. By the start of his freshman season, he was already seeing action as a punt returner, where he excelled by returning three in just his first six games, showing the kind of athlete he really was. By the start of his sophomore year, he was a starter for Cal, where he would go on to nab six interceptions in his first tem games as Cal rose to prominence in the PAC-10. But his season ended with him missing the last two games of the season with a concussion. After the season, reports confirmed he was transferring to Nebraska amidst rumors of negligence among the medical staff of several major schools including Cal, Oklahoma and Florida State, as well as the news that Cal's head coach was leaving to coach a team in the A11FL. He played well his junior season, nabbing five interceptions as Nebraska ended the year with the fifth-best defense in college football. Despite rumors he would declare for the NFL Draft early to capitalize on his momentum, he decided to return for his senior season. But as the 2012 C ollege Football Season approached, news broke of a scandal involving several top college athletes illegally selling gear online, dubbed the "GoJersey Scandal". By the time training camp arrived, reports had surfaced suggesting Aundre had sold merchandise on the site, which he later confirmed. He was swiftly suspended for the first six games of the year. Upon his return, he struggled as the team ahd already fallen off by the time he was eligible to play. He was benched for his final game as the media cited his "bad attitude" and "selfish tendencies" to be his undoing. Upon graduating, he decided to skip the NFL and register for the A11FL Rookie Showcase after multiple reports suggested he could go undrafted, as well as not recieving an invite to the NFL Scouting Combine. He played a phenomenal game, nabbing six tacles and an INT before exiting the game in the second half after suffering a high ankle sprain. He would miss the remainder of the scouting process, but still managed to rank at #17 on Eric Russo's Top 20 Board. Two weeks later, he was selected with the 11th pick of the A11FL Draft by the Bay Area Sea Lions, led by his former Cal HC Montez Brown. He went on to nab four INTs in his rookie year to win D-I DRoY, and his transformation into the face of the Sea Lions has helped transform the Bay Area defense into one of the league's most elite units. And he looks to stay with Bay Area after signing a 5 yr, $75M extension heading into the 2016 season. Strengths: 'Excellent in zone coverage, high football IQ, superior athleticism, solid hands, great footwork, a natural ball hawk known for making big plays on jump balls or long passes, natural leader possessing a very high work ethic and naturally likeable demeanor '''Weaknesses: '''Inconsistent tackler, poor technique when playing the run, man coverage or blitzing the QB, needs to improve his overall field vision on defense, poor block shedding mechanics, notorious for re-directing jump passes to gain multiple chances at getting an INT often giving up catches on second chance opportunities {| border="0" align="center" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" style="width:350px;" class="article-table" |+Career Statistics (Aundre O'Neal) |- ! scope="row"|2013 |'55 tck, 8 def., 4 INTs (Division I Defensive Rookie of the Year) |- ! scope="row"|2014 |'75 tck, 13 def., 5 INTs (A11FL All-Star)' |- ! scope="row"| 2015 |'68 tck, 12 def., 5 INTs (A11FL All-Star)' |- ! scope="row"|